Two Wars

Submitted by Michael S, Jun 9, 2017 at 03:26

I was in Sydney, Australia, during the Six Day War, recovering from an industrial accident. The first I read about it, Egypt was demanding that the UN peacekeepers evacuate the Sinai so Nasser could attack the Jews. I was concerned for Israel; and I imagine I prayed for it, in my rudimentary understanding of such things. When I learned that Israel had won, and quickly at that, I was very glad and very surprized.

I wasn't Jewish but Catholic, and "fallen away" at that; so there was no religious reason for it all. In high school, I worked the stage crew for the production of "Diary of Ann Frank". That was about my only contact with Judaism and Israel. My sister and I had read the Bible once, and were convinced that the Jews were God's chosen people. There was nothing complicated about it: We lived in a Polish-German neighborhood, and didn't know any Jews.

In Australia, my roommates and fellow boarders were all British; so they had a different perspective on the Vietnam War than I did. They were surprized, when I told them that I would not hesitate to press the "nuclear button", if it were my job and I were ordered to do it. I was exempt from the draft at the time, on a IIS student visa (which I couldn't use to go to school, because the Aussies didn't accept my American credentials). In the fall, I had to return to the US, for the sake of the draft. When I could no longer afford to continue school, I enlisted. During basic training, the lottery system was begun; my number was 354, but it was too late to take advantage of it. I studied Vietnamese language, but was discharged without having to go overseas.

The Vietnam War wasn't "political" to me, but personal. Politicians couldn't make up their minds, whether they were for or against it; but I was expected to lay down my life for it. When the girl I wanted to marry said she was against it, that was good enough for me; so I endeavored to get out of the Army. Along the way, I took part in demonstrations and even met Jane Fonda; but it was never an intellectual exercise. Years later, I realized that the only ones expected to serve were blue collar suckers like me; anyone who was at all connected found some kind of "out".

Now it's over for me, thank God; and since then, Americans haven't been expected to serve in the military. That hasn't stopped them from demonstrating, smashing windows and insulting their country; so maybe the whole "Antiwar" thing was just an excuse to misbehave.

Israel has not gotten off the hook, meanwhile. Most Israelis are expected to serve in the military.

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